Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Twitter's new disappearing Fleets feature is stressing her out

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined Twitter users complaining about Fleets, the social media platform's newest feature that rolled out on Tuesday.
• "Does the fleets thing stress anyone else out?" the New York congresswoman tweeted.
• Fleets allows users to post tweets that disappear after 24 hours — similar to Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a chorus of Twitter users on Tuesday who were apparently flummoxed by the app's newest feature, Fleets.

The function allows users to post tweets — either text, photo or video — which appear in profile bubbles at the top of the app and then disappear after 24 hours. The tool has already been compared to other social media platforms, including Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

"Does the fleets thing stress anyone else out?" the New York lawmaker tweeted. "Like I use Twitter to get away from IG stories, not have it follow me around on every platform reminding me that I don't have makeup on."

"Can we put the bar of circles at the bottom at least? (I'm at the bargaining phase of this clearly)," she continued.

Many Twitter users reacted with similar questions about the feature, with several saying that they would've preferred if the app had provided a button to "edit" tweets instead. As things stand, users cannot make any tweaks to their tweets once posted. If there's a mistake, their only option is to delete the original tweet and post another one.

Twitter's Fleets launch came on the same day that the company's Jack Dorsey defended his website at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about content moderation during the 2020 elections. The tech leader testified virtually, alongside Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, who have both faced scrutiny for their companies' misinformation policies.

Ocasio-Cortez also called out Twitter on Tuesday over concerns that she hasn't had access to her direct messages, otherwise known as DMs, for the past three months. Senior Director of Strategic Response at Twitter, Michael O'Herlihy, soon responded that the issue's been flagged to a support team.

The progressive congresswoman boasts more than 10.4 million followers on the platform and often sparks attention for her punchy social media posts related to policy-making and comeback tweets delivered to other public figures. She also uses her massive online presence for purposes like teaching people more about the inner workings of a politician's life, and wields major influence when delving into other tech arenas as well, such as last month's Twitch stream of the popular video game "Among Us," where she attracted more than 400,000 viewers.